A Divine Collection From Dolce & Gabbana
The place: a seaside town in Southern Italy. The occasion: the birthday of a minor, but locally beloved saint. A procession winds through the cobblestone streets from the cathedral, and as it passes shuttered buildings, windows are flung open and women emerge, peering down from their balconies wearing only their corsets and slips. Nubile ingenues and their blowzy grandmothers run to join the parade, following the priest who holds a drawing of the saint on a stick high enough for all to see.
This scene was enacted here in the Northern Italian business and fashion capital at the beginning of nearly three weeks of spring shows by the most important European designers.
A dream of a religious procession was the inspiration for Dolce & Gabbana’s brilliant presentation of spring clothes. “But not in a serious way,” Stefano Gabbana said. “Completely mad. I take the basic idea and turn it upside down.” The result was staged within rooms of the grand villa the partners share here. Only the costumes were displayed--observers had to invoke the rest of the picture in their imaginations. Dolce & Gabbana are a witty and inventive team with the ability to spark such full-blown fantasies, beginning only with clothes.
Models wandered from room to room. In the library of the villa, shelves of carefully cataloged art books lined the walls. Such organization was a telling detail, for as much as the two are known as romantics, there is precise thought behind their reveries, meticulous construction backing their most artistic flings. So models who were characters in the dream procession appeared in terry cloth robe-coats with mink collars or Mama’s black cardigan thrown over a corset and cropped pants that might have been hastily borrowed from a younger brother.
Pictures of the Madonna and child and sundry saints were hand painted on silk, then jeweled and covered with a scrim of black veiling. Religious images decorating skimpy camisoles and short skirts might offend some, but the saintly faces were at once lovely and as kitschy as Elvis paintings on black velvet.
Such flirtations with the outrageous are a Dolce & Gabbana trademark. A jumbo Sacred Heart medal was pinned on a green bra, both visible under a narrow dress of flesh-colored nylon. As the model slinked by in her high-heeled sandals, the good girl/bad girl dichotomy underlying so many feminine archetypes was visually defined. Vivid memories of Dolce & Gabbana’s Southern Italian roots continually yield surprises. A strapless dress of red stretch silk was protected by a layer of plastic, just the way the parlor furniture was when the designers were boys.
Dolce & Gabbana recently opened a new store on Madison Avenue in New York and at Shauna Stein’s new Las Vegas boutique, the designers have their own special space. Precisely cut gangster pantsuits fly out of the shops, but the designers have become Hollywood favorites by creating special occasion outfits that set flashbulbs popping.
The things to covet from this collection are of black chiffon, hand-embroidered with golden vines, and glamorous net-covered corset gowns. Although those gowns will undoubtedly show up at premieres and awards shows, it would be fun to see a nutsy wedding party of them--silk net of peach, red, blue, bronze or green draped over pale long-line bras and stretchy capri pants that look suspiciously like girdles. Silk butterflies were even provided, perched on a bodice or back, as if they had joined the procession to escort it out of the village, into the countryside.
There’ll be plenty of clothes next spring for women not ready to see themselves as luscious Sicilian matrons or teenage sinners lining up for the confessional. Antonio Fusco, who has a growing Los Angeles following, first designed menswear. Perhaps that’s why he chooses the most beautiful fabrics--light, worsted wools that can be worn all year--then tailors them expertly for women. A master of the texture mix, he combines hard and soft elements--a woven jacket over drapey jersey trousers, a leather coat topping a floaty silk dress. The effect is a suit with a feminine feeling.
When American designer Steven Slowik left the house of Ferragamo, the decision was made not to replace him but to let the remaining members of the design studio do the collection. And they’re doing just fine, turning out the sort of luxurious sportswear that complements the company’s popular shoes and bags. A flat-heeled boot that laces to the knee is best showcased with an itty-bitty mini-dress and a slightly longer, shaped jacket. White backless loafers make sense when seen with full cargo pants in light colors and Eisenhower jackets.
The kids are all right, or so it seems if a number of designers’ offspring, secondary collections designed for younger fashion followers, are an indication. Miu Miu by Miuccia Prada, Emporio Armani by Giorgio Armani, Versus by Donatella Versace and Philosophy by Alberta Ferretti are all geared to the customer not ready for prime designer time, or prices.
Emporio offers hints of the more sophisticated Giorgio Armani collection, but the skirts are shorter, the slits higher, the suits more relaxed and everything’s a bit sexier. Navy, white and ivory are warm weather staples, but the addition of lush greens, in shades of mint, lime, kelly and apple added newness to asymmetric hems and sheer camisoles that were shocking only a year ago.
Lots of cropped pants showed up at Miu Miu. They’re rather awkward, but so is the Miu Miu girl, stuck in those nasty post-puberty years. She teeters around on high heels rimmed with the rickrack of her favorite Raggedy Ann doll, and thinks the sort of puffed-sleeved peasant blouses her mother wore before she was born are fun. Those peasant blouses even serve as satin prom dresses when joined to slender skirts. When girls are as young as the spirit of these clothes, they can afford a dose of ugly--something Prada has a peculiar talent for.
The Philosophy customer doesn’t even risk heels. Her growth spurt hit before the boys in her class, so she’s grounded in pointy-toed flats. Alberta Ferretti works with glitter, layers, shine and transparency to fashion dresses for little girls playing dress-up.
Versus has been designed by Donatella Versace since its inception several seasons ago. Although the show marked her first appearance on a runway since her brother Gianni’s murder last summer, the collection’s harder edge shouldn’t be attributed to the tragedy. Versus has always been less sweet than Miu Miu or Philosophy, a smart, sharp group of clothes for night crawlers earning their first paychecks.
The tops of shocking pink Versus briefs peeked out from hip-slung cinnamon leather shorts. That Marky Mark detail repeated elsewhere in the collection with panties visible above the waists of short skirts and through see-through parachute cloth dresses. If Versace, dressed all in black as she walked the runway at the show’s end, has retained enough humor to present pink undies under tough, slashed dresses, then she’s a survivor.
